Saint Melito of Sardis

Saint Melito of SardisAlso known as

  • Melito of Asia
  • Meliton…
  • Melitone…
  • Melitus…

Memorial

Profile

Bishop of Sardis, Lydia (part of modern Turkey). Ecclesiastical writer; he wrote an Apology (defense of Christianity) addressed to emperor Marcus Aurelius. Almost nothing else is known about his life.

Died

  • c.180 of natural causes
  • interred at Sardis, Lydia (part of modern Turkey)

Canonized

Additional Information

Works

  • Eclogues
  • On His prophecy
  • On baptism
  • On faith
  • On hospitality
  • On the Apocalypse of John
  • On the Corporeality of God
  • On the Lord’s day
  • On the church
  • On the devil
  • On the generation of Christ
  • On the lives of the prophets
  • On the passover
  • On the psalms
  • On the senses
  • On the soul and body
  • On truth
  • The Key

Readings

The Lord, though he was God, became man.
He suffered for the sake of whose who suffer, he was bound for those in bonds, condemned for the guilty, buried for those who lie in the grave; but he rose from the dead, and cried aloud: “Who will contend with me?
Let him confront me.”
I have freed the condemned, brought the dead back to life, raised men from their graves.
Who has anything to say against me?
I, he said, am the Christ; I have destroyed death, triumphed over the enemy, trampled hell underfoot, bound the strong one, and taken men up to the heights of heaven: I am the Christ.
Come, then, all you nations of men, receive forgiveness for the sins that defile you.
I am your forgiveness.
I am the Passover that brings salvation.
I am the lamb who was immolated for you.
I am your ransom, you life, your resurrection, you light, I am your salvation and your king.
I will bring you to the heights of heaven.
With my own right hand I will raise you up, and I will show you the eternal Father.
– from a letter by Saint Melito of Sardis

Born as a son,
led forth as a lamb,
sacrificed as a sheep,
buried as a man,
he rose from the dead as a God,
for he was by nature God and man.

He is all things:
he judges, and so he is Law;
he teaches, and so he is Wisdom;
he saves, and so he is Grace;
he begets, and so he is Father;
he is begotten, and so he is Son;
he suffers, and os he is Sacrifice;
he is buried, and so he is man;
he rises again, and so he is God.
This is Jesus Christ,
to whom belongs glory for all ages.

– prayer by Saint Melito

MLA Citation

  • “Saint Melito of Sardis“. CatholicSaints.Info. 12 June 2023. Web. 4 May 2024. <>